From left to right: Sitting: Queen Maud of Norway, Empress Augusta of Germany, Queen Amalie of Portugal and Queen Ena of Spain.
Standing: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, Kaiser William II of Germany, Queen Alexandra of Great Britain and her husband (another womanizer) King Edward VII.

Queen Ena's most handsome grandson was HRH Alfonso of Borbon, Duke of Anjou, who inherited her charm and elegance. Here, right after his marriage to Maria del Carmen Martinez-Bordiu, granddaughhter of General Francisco Franco. The late Alfonso was the Head of the House of Borbon.

Nowadays, the head of the House of Borbon in Spain and France is Queen Ena's great grandson, HRH Luis Alfonso of Borbon, Duke of Anjou. Here, the day he married Venezuelan heiress Maria Margarita Vargas-Santaella.

Queen Ena's most handsome grandson was HRH Alfonso of Borbon, Duke of Anjou, who inherited her charm and elegance. Here, right after his marriage to Maria del Carmen Martinez-Bordiu, granddaughhter of General Francisco Franco. The late Alfonso was the Head of the House of Borbon.

Why was the head of the House of Borbon the Duke of Anjou and not Juan, the present King's father? Also, why is the present head not King Juan Carlos?

Hello Chuchu,

Juan Carlos's father passed away and he was not the older son of King Alfonso XIII, his older son was Louis Alfonso's grandfather, Jaime Duke of Segovia, Anjou and Cadiz; but I would like to comment you the following:

As you know the Royal House of Borbon (Bourbon in French) is a French Capetian Dynasty which ruled France and nowadays Spain (also other cadet branches ruled in other many countries, principalities, grand dukedoms and dukedoms) for many centuries. Hugh Capet, was the first King of France, from 987 to 986 (his father and grandfather were Kings of "Western France").

The backbone of the very old Capetian Sucession Law was the "Salic Law", which permitted only direct male descendants to inherit the position of Head of the House, which holder would also be King of France. This is the reason why we never had a Queen of France, they were rather Queens Consort. This Law was very strict in France and Kings never dared to alter it (with the exemption of the Bonapartes and Louis Philip of Orleans).

The Capetian-> Valois -> Bourbon all belong to the same Capetian Dynasty and their Kings descend in direct masculine line from Hugh Capet. When the House of Bourbon took over the Spanish throne, the new King of Spain, Philip V, became King of Spain, but not Head of the Royal House of Bourbon; such position was held by his grandfather, King Louis XIV and after the latter's death, by his nephew, King Louis XV (son of King Philip V's brother, Louis de Bourbon, Duke of Bourgogne).

The head of the Royal House of Bourbon remained in France until the death of Henri of Bourbon, Comte of Chambord (grandson of Charles X and great great grandson of Louis XV, Kings of France). For the French legitimists, the Comte of Chambord was Henri V, King of France, but the throne was usurped by Louis Philip of Orleans, who was a member of a minor branch of the House of Bourbon, only to be expelled 18 years after he took over the throne.

Upon the death of Henri of Bourbon, Comte de Chambord, all the direct male descendants of Louis XV became extinct, then the Head of the Royal House passed on to Louis XIV's direct male descendants in this order (they are also female line descendants of Louis XV):

Juan of Borbon, Comte of Montizon --> Carlos of Borbon, Duke of Madrid --> Jaime of Borbon, Duke of Madrid --> Alfonso Carlos of Borbon, Duke of San Jaime --> Alfonso XIII of Borbon, King of Spain --> Jaime of Borbon, Duke of Anjou and Cadiz --> Alfonso of Borbon, Duke of Anjou and Cadiz --> Louis Alfonso of Borbon, Duke of Anjou.

As we see, Alfonso XIII was the only Head of the House of Borbon who at the same time was King of Spain. In case Louis Alfonso of Borbon died without legitimate direct male heirs, the head of the Royal House of Borbon would pass on to King Juan Carlos or his legitimate direct male descendants.

Amongst the many cadet/minor branches of the House of Bourbon, we can mention the Houses of Borbon-Parma, Borbon-Two Sicilies and Borbon-Orleans.

It is worth to mention that actual members of the Royal House of Luxembourg belong to the House of Borbon-Parma, since the marriage of Felix of Borbon-Parma with Charlotte of Nassau, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg on 1919.

King Juan Carlos did not inherit the throne of Spain, he was "appointed" as King by "Generalisimo" Francisco Franco, bypassing Juan Carlos's father, Juan of Borbon, Comte of Barcelona and the true dynastic heir and former Prince of Asturias, Jaime of Borbon, Duke of Segovia, Anjou and Cadiz (who was Louis Alfonso's grandfather), whose resignation to the throne was not considered valid, because he signed under duress/coercion and the resignation was withdrawn by the Duke and never ratified by the Spanish "Cortes" as required.

HRH Infante Jaime of Borbon, former Prince of Asturias and Duke of Segovia, Anjou and Cadiz:

HRH Louis Alfonso of Borbon, Duke of Anjou and actual Head of the Royal House of Borbon:

"Queen Victoria's granddaughter married Alfonso XIII 103 years ago on 31st May

June 1905, and three years since Alfonso XIII had assumed full power as King of Spain . The posthumous son of Alfonso XII was proclaimed king at his birth in 1886, six months after the death of his father, and the crown had been held in regency by his mother, María Cristina of Hapsburg, until he reached majority at the age of 16.

The young king was in London that month on an official visit to the UK and on 5th June attended a dinner at Buckingham Palace held in his honour by Edward VII. At the dinner, a niece of Edwards’s caught the eye of the Spanish king: 17 year old Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, known to her family as Ena. A granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Ena was the daughter of Princess Beatrice, Victoria’s youngest daughter, and Prince Henry of Battenberg."

I'm delighted to have found your website! I wonder if you could be so kind as to help me with a historical point about Queen Ena:

I'm interested in music: I have just read about a meeting between Victoria Eugenia and the Paraguayan classical guitarist Agustin Barrios in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1935. He is said to have played a concert at her residence, and afterwards she is said to have given him a guitar, made by a Spanish guitar maker, as a present.

Does anyone know of this occasion? Was the Queen in Lausanne in 1935? How can I find out more?